Caracas: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blamed the opposition's presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, for the post-election violence, killing at least 11 people in different parts of the nation, IANS reported. The protests erupted after the country's National Electoral Council declared that Maduro had won a third term with 51 per cent of votes.
"I hold you responsible, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia, for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, for the criminals, for the injured, for the dead, for the destruction," Maduro said in a message broadcast to the nation during a joint meeting of the Council of State and the Defense Council on July 30. The President also announced the creation of a fund to aid victims of the violence.
So far, up to 749 people have been arrested for participating in violent riots following the July 28 presidential election, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said. The opposition reportedly considers the election body to be in the pocket of a dictatorial government. It says its candidate Gonzalez had more than twice as many votes as Maduro based on the 90 per cent of vote tallies it has been able to access, Reuters reported.
It added that many countries have called on Venezuela to make the vote tally public, and sources said that the US was considering fresh sanctions on individuals linked to the election unless there was greater transparency.
